A Local group is bringing an urban farm to Bayside.

The Airdrie Urban Farm Collective just got approval for about half an acre on land in West Airdrie, owned by the DayBreak community church said Jenn the manager of the garden,

"We sat down with Mayor Peter Brown in January and my team of people who were helping me make this happen, Tim Calloway is one of them and he has been my partner in crime with this and we sat down with Peter and he was so eager to see this happen."

After getting help through all of the politics involved, the garden is now going ahead. AUFC will be located on DayBreak community church’s land, on the west side of Airdrie. AUFC will be an environment welcoming anyone of any age to come and learn, participate and get fresh produce on your table. They really hope to make kids will be a huge part of the farm.

The DayBreak community church currently helps over 300 families a week with their food programs like giving out food hampers and will also benefit from some of the fresh produce being added to those hampers. 

An urban farm operates differently than a community garden. You don’t get your own plot or bed at the farm, rather everyone grows and works on everything together and then we all participate in the harvest! It will be run by volunteers and donations so Airdronians will be a huge part of getting it going with their help.

Currently, the timeline is to have the beds laid and ready for planting by beginning in May.

They hope to have the farm be a gathering place that is family-friendly and has tables, toys for kids to enjoy and a place to teach the younger generation how to farm food. 

Anyone who participates also gets the benefit of enjoying the harvest at the end of the season.

The best part is that members of the community who would love to garden but their yards have issues with the amount of sunlight or live in an apartment or townhouse that have no place for a garden have a new way to help out and reap the rewards. 

All they need to get this up and running is networking and support from the community, since they are starting from scratch she said, 

"I've been dropping off letters at Home Depot and Lowe's and Blue Grass and Home Hardware, even local coffee shops we want their coffee grounds to work into our soil."

She adds they are also looking for cardboard, tools like wheelbarrows, shovels, forks, gloves anything normally associated with gardening, mulch, straw, soil, outdoor kids toys and of course people to volunteer.

They also are looking for anyone who has experience with raising chickens as they hope to find a few to add to the farm.

They are even going to educate the public about urban farming by providing certificate courses. 

The project isn't only about the garden, they also hope to make the area a beautiful place to walk through and a great place to bring the kids on a nice day.

They also need volunteers to come out and be a part and hope that there are some seniors who might benefit from the activity as well said, Jenn, 

"We are not going to forget about the senior population we really want to make it assessable for them in multiple different ways."

She adds if they can't work the soil they'll be able to run things like lemonade stands and all sorts of other easy tasks to be able to get out and enjoy the fresh air, the garden and the community. 

You can find out more on their Facebook Page Here. 

Feel free to message them and inquire about how you can help out. 

 

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